Swords Into Plowshares
by Danja
Summary: OneShot. AU. B'Elanna has her baby ... with an assist from Borg technology. R&R.


**Swords Into Plowshares**

* * *

"Where's Lieutenant Torres?" Seven asked as she walked into Engineering.

"In the Jeffries Tube, checking a relay," a technician replied.

"She's pregnant," Seven growled. "She's not even supposed to be working!"

"You want to argue with her, be my guest," the technician replied flippantly.

Seven got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the Jeffries Tube.

* * *

"Lieutenant!" Seven called out to B'Elanna once she was inside the tube. "Lieutenant! Where are you?"

"Who's there?" B'Elanna replied.

"Seven of Nine", Seven replied. "Where are you?"

"Back here," B'Elanna replied.

"You're not supposed to be here," said Seven as she made her way towards B'Elanna. "The Doctor confined you to your quarters for bed rest."

"I was bored stiff," B'Elanna shot back.

"Go back to your quarters," Seven commanded. "Whatever's wrong, one of the technicians can take care of it."

"I'm fine ... _OW!_" B'Elanna retorted with a shout.

"What's wrong?" Seven asked, concerned.

"I think my water broke," B'Elanna replied.

Seven tapped her comm badge. "Seven of Nine to sickbay ..." she said.

"Sickbay here," came the reply.

"Lieutenant Torres is in labor. She needs help," said Seven.

Seven and B'Elanna disappeared ...

* * *

... And reappeared in sickbay.

The Doctor scrambled to B'Elanna's side. "C'mon, let's get her up," he said as he and Seven helped B'Elanna onto her feet and moved her to a bed.

Once B'Elanna was safely in bed, something prompted Seven to examine B'Elanna's womb with her ultrasound vision. What she saw disturbed her.

"Doctor, there's something wrong," said Seven. "The baby ... it's breech."

The Doctor grabbed his tricorder and examined B'Elanna's womb. "Score one for the lady with the cybernetic eye," he said. He then said to B'Elanna, "Lieutenant, you need a C-section."

_"NO! _No drugs!" said B'Elanna. "Who knows _WHAT_ kind of effect they'll have on the baby."

"Lieutenant, this is madness!" the Doctor exclaimed. "You _NEED_ medication! There's no way you can have a C-section without it!"

"Doctor, _I_ may be able to help," said Seven.

"What did you have in mind?" the Doctor asked.

"I wish to place her ... in a deep sleep," Seven replied.

"You're going to hypnotize her," said the Doctor.

Seven shook her head. "What _I_ have to offer ... is something far more potent than mere hypnosis," she said.

_There's something she's not telling us,_ the Doctor thought.

* * *

_SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER ..._

_The Borg had landed on the planet Thalos Five._

_Vast armies of drones swarmed over the planet. A young Seven of Nine - then a full Borg drone - came upon a family with three children: a baby, a five-year-old, and a twelve-year-old._

_"NO! PLEASE! DON'T!" the mother screamed as she held her baby tightly. The father lunged at Seven shouting, "YOU MONSTERS!"_

_Seven engaged her HypnoBlast weapon (the very same re-purposed weapon that would one day aid B'Elanna Torres in the future). "Sleep ... Sleep," the voice of the Hive echoed telepathically through the family's minds._

_The five-year-old and the twelve-year-old collapsed, deep asleep. The mother followed suit, with the baby still crying in her arms._

_The father's will was strong. He was still advancing towards Seven even though he had slowed to a stagger._

_"You're exhausted ... Sleep now," said Seven, the voice of the Hive issuing forth from her lips. "Your legs are now giving way under you."_

_The father dropped to his hands and knees. His iron will was no match for Seven's HypnoBlast at full power._

_"We are the Borg. You will be assimilated," said Seven as she kicked the father's shoulder, sending him onto his back. She then fired her nanoprobe injector into the now-unconscious father's neck and intoned, "Resistance is futile." _

_Seven then walked over to the sleeping mother and snatched her crying baby out of her arms. "Three children to transport," said Seven. The baby and the two children then disappeared._

* * *

"What do you say, Lieutenant?" the Doctor asked. "Are you willing to give it a go?"

B'Elanna screamed in pain. "I guess it's either this or the drugs," she said. She then added, "I'm scared."

"No harm will come to you," said Seven.

_This is the first time I've done this by myself, _Seven thought._ In the past, I've always had the Hive behind me._

Seven then thought,_ If I narrow the spread and cut the power back to 10%, it should only affect B'Elanna._

"Are you ready?" the Doctor asked B'Elanna.

B'Elanna nodded and screamed in pain once more. "What do you want me to do?" she asked Seven, gasping for breath.

"Just close your eyes ... and allow things to happen," Seven replied. "Don't fight it, don't resist it ..."

" 'Resistance is futile', huh?" B'Elanna joked.

Seven chose to ignore B'Elanna's jibe. "Just close your eyes," she said softly.

B'Elanna obediently closed her eyes as Seven turned on her re-purposed and defanged HypnoBlast. _Sleep, Lieutenant, _Seven said telepathically as she gently stroked the ridges on on B'Elanna's forehead.

B'Elanna's head rolled over to one side as Seven continued stroking B'Elanna's forehead. _Sleep now,_ said Seven telepathically. _You are now in a deep sleep._

_Amazing, _the Doctor thought as he witnessed the scene playing out before him. _She's managed to knock out a Klingon._

B'Elanna fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Lieutenant ... Lieutenant," said the Doctor as he shook B'Elanna's shoulder, trying to rouse her. B'Elanna's baby - a girl - lay in an isolette next to B'Elanna's bed.

B'Elanna suddenly jerked awake. "Where am I?" she asked, disoriented.

"You're still in sickbay," the Doctor replied.

"How long was I out?" B'Elanna asked.

"About six hours,' the Doctor replied. "Whatever Seven did to you, she got you good." The Doctor then picked up B'Elanna's baby and handed her to her.

"You have a girl," said the Doctor as he handed the baby to B'Elanna. He then added, "You're fine. The baby's fine."

"Where's Seven?" B'Elanna asked.

"She left after the surgery," the Doctor replied. "Who knows what's going through her mind."

* * *

Seven sat in a simulated library in the Holodeck, attempting to process everything that had just happened.

_Where did_ THAT _come from? _ she wondered. _It's not something_ I _would've done._

All at once, a book fell down from one of the shelves and landed at Seven's feet. She picked it up and examined the cover - it was a copy of the Bible.

Seven looked at the contents of the book; the book had mysteriously opened to the Book of Isaiah:

_The law will go out from Zion,  
__the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  
__He will judge between the nations  
__and will settle disputes for many peoples.  
__They will beat their swords into plowshares  
__and their spears into pruning hooks.  
__Nation will not take up sword against nation,  
__nor will they train for war anymore._

_Is this the "God" that the crew often speaks of? _Seven wondered.

* * *

_"Read it to me again, Daddy," said Annika. She sat on her father's lap, thumbing through a children's Bible picture book. They were on board the Raven, during the pre-Borg better times._

_"Here are the lion and the wolf laying down together," said Father as he pointed out the pictures to little Annika. "And here's the lamb over here. See how they're laying down together?"_

* * *

_The last time I saw my father, he was a Borg drone, _Seven thought, the memory bringing a tear to her one human eye.

* * *

A few days later, B'Elanna was in her quarters. She was sitting on the sofa, holding and playing with her new baby.

There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" B'Elanna called out.

"Seven of Nine," came the reply from the other side. "May I come in?"

"It's open!" B'Elanna replied.

"I wanted to see the baby," said Seven as she entered B'Elanna's quarters.

"Her name is Miral," said B'Elanna happily. "You left before I got a chance to thank you."

"It's just as well," said Seven as she sat down on the sofa. "The whole experience ... brought up a lot of ... bad memories."

"How so?" B'Elanna asked.

"It's not something ... I like to talk about," Seven replied. "Suffice to say that what I did with you hasn't always been used for ... _benign ends_."

A chill ran down B'Elanna's spine. _Gods, what has this woman_ DONE? she thought.

"This is a new beginning ... in more ways than one," B'Elanna said with a smile.

THE END


End file.
